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Rating: 
Summary: Interesting story
Review: As a 23-year-old innocent from North Carolina, Jay met an engaging older man also from the South. They began a relationship that never included sex, but involved the most intimate and important times of their lives. Jay portrays his growth through drugs, relationships, family and careers along with Joe's. It is a journey that continues.
Rating: 
Summary: An Enjoyable Read!
Review: How great it would be if all young gay men just coming out could have an older person, a Mentor, help guide them through life's trials and experiences. It certainly would have helped me. Jay Quinn's personal narrative is such a honest, no holes-barred read, and so interesting. It must have been hard to put all this down for everyone to see. Through all his troubles with relationships, drugs, and depression, he manages to pull through. All with the help of his dedicated mentor, Joe Riddick. By reading this book other gay men will relive their own similar experiences, and know that they are not alone. We are all here to experience what life has to offer us, and it would be great if the different generations could help guide each other. We should all be "Mentors." I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: An Enjoyable Read!
Review: How great it would be if all young gay men just coming out could have an older person, a Mentor, help guide them through life's trials and experiences. It certainly would have helped me. Jay Quinn's personal narrative is such a honest, no holes-barred read, and so interesting. It must have been hard to put all this down for everyone to see. Through all his troubles with relationships, drugs, and depression, he manages to pull through. All with the help of his dedicated mentor, Joe Riddick. By reading this book other gay men will relive their own similar experiences, and know that they are not alone. We are all here to experience what life has to offer us, and it would be great if the different generations could help guide each other. We should all be "Mentors." I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: This book had nothing to do with being a mentor
Review: I found this book to be dull, pretentious, and without any merit. Growing up in the south must have been difficult, but I fail to see what this memoir has to do with anything other than the author showing off his checkered past and large vocabulary.
Yawn
Rating: 
Summary: Jay Quinn 101: THE SEED!!
Review: The important point to be made about this book is that it is the first published work of Jay Quinn. I recommend that readers start with Quinn's mature, METES AND BONDS --the Lambda award winning novel-- and REBEL YELL anthology series,and then return to this first published work. Being the big fan, as I am, of Jay Quinn's books, I'm not overcritical when I say that this book is not quite "ripe"!! I just feel that most people will appreciate it more after they read the more finished books first. That way, you will better appreciate the dominating themes of his body of work. Why are Jay Quinn's books so important? Because Jay Quinn is not afraid to break taboos. That is #1. In the Lambda Book Report he talks openly about the roles of alcohol and in METES AND BOUNDS he writes about drugs affecting the lives of gay men. From Man-Boy love, to incest relations, he writes the truth. Jay Quinn is the most important new Southern writer today.
Rating:
Summary: Jay Quinn 101: THE SEED!!
Review: The important point to be made about this book is that it is the first published work of Jay Quinn. I recommend that readers start with Quinn's mature, METES AND BONDS --the Lambda award winning novel-- and REBEL YELL anthology series,and then return to this first published work. Being the big fan, as I am, of Jay Quinn's books, I'm not overcritical when I say that this book is not quite "ripe"!! I just feel that most people will appreciate it more after they read the more finished books first. That way, you will better appreciate the dominating themes of his body of work. Why are Jay Quinn's books so important? Because Jay Quinn is not afraid to break taboos. That is #1. In the Lambda Book Report he talks openly about the roles of alcohol and in METES AND BOUNDS he writes about drugs affecting the lives of gay men. From Man-Boy love, to incest relations, he writes the truth. Jay Quinn is the most important new Southern writer today.
Rating:
Summary: A Painful Past That Can Help Others
Review: There is a saying "You can't judge a book by its cover." This is true with Jay Quinn's THE MENTOR. I assumed the book was going to be nothing more than an easy summer read when I selected the book, judging from the young man on the cover. When I was on vacation (at the Outer Banks, no less, the setting of the book), I quickly learned this is not beach reading. The book deals with the friendship between the author and his mentor, how that relationship evolved through many difficult twists and turns, and the difference such a meaningful relationship can have in a person's life. The author is a gay "good ole boy" which makes for an interesting twist. He's also a surfer dude which adds a bit of flair. He is a Catholic convert, but definitely Catholic on his won terms. He faces challenges, bouts of depression, difficulties with substance abuse, and a whole host of other problems, yet now his life has shape. Due in no small part to his mentor, the author has grown from the many experiences that could have destroyed other people. When a person reads this book, memoirs that are more cathartic than anything else can come to mind, and this book does have a cathartic element to it, but if anything it helps a person relate to the author.
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